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New schedule is not that bad, but not working

By Chris Picanco

After having spent the last three weeks of my senior year trying to get used to this new schedule, I have reached the conclusion that it is not so bad. Sure, every class is an hour and, we have to start school at 8.15 instead of 8:30, but other than that, it could be worse. The question is not how bad it is. The question is how beneficial is it for the students. For all of the freshmen out there who are reading this article and are not aware of how things used to be, let me tell you. School used to start at 8:30 and each class was only fifty five minutes long. We also got out of school ten minutes earlier than this year.

When this new schedule was introduced last year, the only happy people on the entire campus was the graduating class, who got down on their knees and thanked God that they were graduating. Everyone else was angry and felt that the old schedule was fine. Numerous teachers were also unhappy about the change. Many faculty members, however, were happy about it. They claimed that the extra five minutes of class would be very beneficial for the students and that any discussions could be wrapped up. They also said that having every period every day during shortened weeks would help make up for the lost time.

While the schedule is not as bad as I once feared, let us separate the truth from the fiction. First of all, the extra five minutes are not as beneficial as the faculty tried to make us believe. There are many classes where students struggle to stay awake for half an hour, much less an hour. So far, I have not walked out of any class and thought to myself, "Boy, I'm glad I spent an extra five minutes in that class. It was so beneficial." As for the discussions being wrapped up, I do not think so. Any discussion that I have had in class this year has gone right up to the bell, unfinished. The same problems that we had with fifty five minute classes are happening with sixty hour classes. The only difference is that the student spends five extra minutes staring at the clock and praying for class to end.

Some of the problem can be attributed to the teachers. A few of them have no idea how best to use the time so that the class will not bean hour long session of monotone lectures They do not seem to understand that in order to have students learn, you have got to make it fun. I once had a theology teacher tell me that theology is a naturally boring subject. That is simply not true. I have had several theology classes where the time flew by and I learned a lot. The teacher just needs a way to make the minutes count. Also, it helps if the teacher does more than read the book to us. We at Jesuit are literate, I assure you.

Having every class every day on the shortened weeks has got to be one of the most illogical things that I have ever heard. The teachers get tired, the students get tired and for what purpose? To get an extra half-hour of class time that we normally would not have. Is it worth it? Absolutely not. For one thing, trying to keep the schedule straight everyday of the week is enough trouble. Having homework for all six classes every night is not a good thing at all. Very few teachers I know of adhere to the thirty minutes of homework a night rule. What about the last class of the day? The student drags himself into the classroom, and falls down into his desk. The teacher is also exhausted, having already taught three or four classes. This is not exactly an ideal way to stimulate our academic growth. It is a waste of fifty minutes.

Looking at last year's April edition of the Plank, I can see that the only person who defended the new schedule in writing was a senior who was on his way out. Everybody interviewed was against it. People were complaining to teachers every period. Now that we have lived through this schedule for a little while, it is clear the naysayers were correct. The schedule is ineffective. The old schedule was a characteristic of Jesuit that every student loved. It made us unique compared to the other schools in the area. The education that the student was receiving was far better than at any other high school. I could understand the schedule change if class GPAs were dropping or if the education was proving insufficient. But that is not the case at all. Last year's juniors set a new junior class record for class GPA.

One does not want to come across as a senior who is whining about the new schedule simply because we are in school longer. If I felt that The schedule was actually working the way that it was intended, I would support it. Staying in school for a little while longer does not bother me if it is worth it. But it is not worth it. We are stuck in school longer this year, yet not learning any more than we were learning last year. It is early in the year, however and I am hoping that the situation improves.

What do you think of the new schedule?

"Quite honestly, I don't like it. I think that nothing gets done in the extra minutes of class. I just leave a few minutes earlier and come home a few minutes later."

-Sophomore Adam Endelman

"I hate the short week schedules. I think an hour is too long for regular classes. Fifty-five minutes was perfect."

- Junior Matt Kinney


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